phpList review: open-source email newsletter software you can self-host free or run hosted from $1/month. Compare features, pricing and alternatives.
phpList is open-source email newsletter and marketing software that organizations use to send campaigns, manage subscriber lists, and run drip and autoresponder sequences. It began as a project by Michiel Dethmers in 2000 and is now stewarded by phpList Limited, a UK company.
The software can be self-hosted for free on a user's own server, or run through phpList's hosted service for teams that do not want to manage their own mail infrastructure. This dual model lets phpList serve both budget-conscious self-hosters and organizations that prefer a managed solution.
phpList supports campaign management with scheduling, subscriber list segmentation with custom fields, autoresponders and drip campaigns, and click and open tracking for measuring engagement. Bounce handling and unsubscribe management help maintain list hygiene and sender reputation.
Developers can extend phpList through its API and plugin system, and the self-hosted edition gives full access to the underlying database and mail configuration for advanced customization.
The core phpList software is free to download and self-host, though running it well requires appropriate web hosting and a working outbound mail server capable of reliable delivery.
For organizations that prefer not to manage their own infrastructure, phpList's hosted service offers paid plans starting at roughly 1 dollar per month, billed per subscriber or per message, with volume plans that bring the cost of sending a million messages a month down to around 8 dollars per month.
Yes, the core phpList software is free to download and self-host. phpList also offers a paid hosted service for organizations that do not want to manage their own mail server.
phpList was created by Michiel Dethmers, who began developing it in 2000 and led the project for 15 years before Sam Tuke became CEO of phpList Ltd in 2015.
Hosted plans start at around 1 dollar per month, billed per subscriber or per message, with higher-volume plans available for larger sending needs.
Yes. phpList is open source and can be installed on your own web hosting, provided you also have a working mail server capable of delivering campaigns.
Yes, phpList supports autoresponders and drip campaigns that trigger automatically based on subscriber actions or schedules.
phpList reports that around 75,000 organizations across 35 countries use the platform.
Yes, phpList provides an API and plugin system for integrating with other tools and extending its functionality.
phpList is open source and can be self-hosted for free, while Mailchimp is a hosted-only SaaS platform; phpList generally appeals to users who want data control or lower costs at scale, while Mailchimp offers a more polished interface and broader marketing features.